The Rex Sacrorum, even by the time of our sources for Ancient Rome, is something of a mystery and could certainly be the subject of its own blog post and probably will be. According to our sources it was a priesthood that was formed along with the republic to replace the Kings of Rome in their religious duties, however it may also be a form of ‘decayed’ kingship, a hangover of more archaic times.
Accompanying the Rex Sacrorum was his wife, the Regina Sacrorum, who would not only serve in office with the man elected Rex but would also perform religious rites in her own capacity sacrificing a sow or female Lamb on the Kalends (the first) of every month, that is at least according to a source writing in the 4th century AD. This is something of a marvel, we only really hear about the male elements of religious life, other than the Vestal Virgins, in the Roman Empire. So, what can we actually gleam from this priestess? Well with anything this obscure it is difficult. On the most basic principles of the Rex and Regina Sacrorum they were replacements for the Kings and Queens. But is there more to the tale?
Maybe if we look at the tales of those ancient Queens we can see more. We can leave the mythological kings and queens of Rome to one side, for this I believe it’s best to look at those who feel far more grounded in reality.
The first I think that we should look at is Tanaquil, wife of the 5th King of Rome Tarquinius Priscus, who according to Livy interpreted the omen of an eagle stealing her husband’s hat as a clear sign of success in their new city and that Tarquinius would become King. This would become realised after the death of Ancus Marcius and Tarquinius would seize the throne. She would also have a role in the omens of her husband successor.
According to the legend a young Servius Tullius was seen by Tanaquil to have a flame around his head, not harming the baby boy. Tanaquil who had something of a reputation as a reader of divine omens interpreted great things for this young boy and he would eventually marry into the family and become heir designate.
King Tarquin and the Eagle, from Story of the Romans, by Helene Guerber, 1896
Strangely Tullius’ wife doesn’t get much of a look in despite being the daughter of a great seer/omen interpreter that was Tanaquil. The next queen that we meet in any great detail is the last King’s wife Tullia Minor. It is she who convinces Superbus to overthrow her own father and seize the throne for himself. It is also her infamous actions that lead to the ritual contamination of her family and the eventual downfall of monarchy in Rome. She is the first to hail her husband publicly as king, and as she rides her chariot home it is her, not her driver the runs over the body of her father. His blood on her chariot’s wheel bringing home the anger of the family gods, the Penates, who later contrived to bring down her family.
Tullia Driving Her Chariot Over Her Father, by Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari, 1687
If we do look back to the mythological kings of Rome, Numa is lead by a female figure of Egeria in all things divine leading him to found many of the religious aspects of Ancient Rome.
All these stories are ones of prominent Women in the age of Kings in Rome, whether it is as active omen interpreters or as back room dealing politicians. For many they’ll be seen as a fantastical demonising of why women shouldn’t be trusted, especially in the case of Tulia. However, given the presence of this shadowy Regina Sacrorum can we really be so sure that is actually what they were or are they actually echoes of the truth, that Royal women did play a larger, more functional, part in society than our sources give them credit for.
In the, slightly, more well documented case of the Rex Sacrorum it is likely that religious powers were slowly stripped away from him over the course of the Republic and moved to the various priests of high office. It is likely, then, that this would be the case with the Regina Sacrorum with more and more duties stripped away (probably to the Vestal Virgins) she became as obscure to the romans as she is to us today.
I wonder if, perhaps, we may see this in the clothes that she wears while on duties or could they even hint to what the role of the queens was publicly. Servius, again writing in the 4th Century, in his commentary on the Aeneid writes that Dido was wearing something similar to what the Regina Sacrorum wore. Most notably a crown made of pomegranate twigs. If this is to be believed then it is a striking image. It could be seen as an image of fertility, or even possibly one of the underworld given its associations with Persephone and her trips to the underworld. The image of the Queen wearing what we could assume to be quite a barren crown is something that could be interpreted time and time again. Perhaps a symbol of her stripped down power, especially when Servius is writing, it is open to so many interpretations.
Overall, the Regina Sacrorum may well never be fully understood, if the Romans themselves didn’t really know then what hope do we have? However, what we can suggest is that those echoes of a public facing woman in the elite strata of Ancient Roman society in the archaic period may well have some merits with the Regina Sacrorum and her monthly sacrifices being the last ember of those practices.